Meet Phelicia

I love sunshine, music, and art in any in any form. I didn’t discover quite how much I loved art until my twenties. I have an obsession with the Tree of Life. I grew up in Washington state before making a couple of cross country moves, including Mississippi, Maryland, and finally Nevada. As a native Washingtonian, I have a love for good coffee. It doesn’t matter that I live in a desert, I like my coffee hot.

I have three babies. All girls. No, I am not trying for a boy. Three little women are quite enough for this family! They are so much of my inspiration when it comes to my career and the different paths I have journeyed. My oldest is the reason I picked up my first DSLR and later opened Photos By Phelicia while living in Maryland. I have a bachelors degree in business management, but quickly learned I hate the corporate world. After a brief stint with a fortune 500, I realized the only way I wanted to work was for myself. So, here I am, doing what I love!

After attending my first home birth (and almost catching the baby), I decided the birth life was definitely for me. I signed up for doula training, earned my certification in lactation counseling (CLC), and opened Earth Mother Baby. I love supporting women in labor. My favorite place to be is in the birth space, wherever that may be.

While volunteering with Jalen’s Gift Foundation, I met fellow photographer, Fatima Hurd. After a few jokes about forming a partnership we stopped laughing and decided to give it a go! Initially it was just for weddings and events, but we kind of liked each other and working together was a blast, so we made it a more permanent kind of deal and merged Earth Mother Baby and Eloquent Times Photography, forming Next 2 Venus, LLC.

Over the years my passion has gravitated heavily towards photojournalism. So much of why I love birth photography is because of the impact the story holds in an image. I love to photograph life and all it entails- the good, bad, and ugly. Not every story I tell through my images is a happy one, but that is life and I feel even the ugly or sad stories need to be told.

Phelicia’s Latest Blog Posts

My last maternity session on Mount Charleston was in the Summer. This time felt like Winter without snow. While I felt like I was freezing, she failed to show any sign of misery. She ROCKED our session! Mount Charleston is one of my favorite locations for maternity sessions, and I am sure you can agree!…

If you haven’t heard me say it enough, I love my job. I get to meet sweet brand new babies shortly after arriving earth side for my in-hospital newborn sessions. I get to ooh and ahh and check out their little details. Details, like these beautiful luscious EYE LASHES! They were the first thing I…

I am so honored to have been able to attend the last two births for this family! Just as radiant as her maternity session, she welcomed her sweet baby boy at 40 weeks 5 days, in the most beautiful birth space in her home. I can’t wait to start working on the film for her…

The last leg of my trip was a stop in Monterey, CA to see an old friend. We met in Maryland a few years ago, on a previous life adventure. It was so nice to have the opportunity to escape and enjoy her company, along with the munchkins. I wish our kids could be friends.…

Going home means exploring my old parks and neighborhoods. I miss so much about being in the northwest. Something about summer in the PNW makes me want to pack up and move for those two nice months out of the year! Seeing old friends and family makes me homesick sometimes. Everyone I photographed has been…